Needle protection devices are well-known that are assembled to a medical tubing assembly for protecting a needle after it is removed from a patient. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,638 depicts a protector for a needle including a sheath having slotted side walls to receive a winged needle. The sheath slides along the tubing to cover the needle, so that the sharp tip of the needle is recessed inside the sheath and cannot cause accidental injury. The sheath is locked to the needle so that it cannot be easily removed from its protecting position over the needle. While such needle guards work well to protect the needle in the protecting position; prior to locking the sheath in place over the needle, the sheath slides freely along the tubing, which may cause problems with the operation of the tubing set. For example, an arteriovenous fistula needle set for hemodialysis may have a tubing length of approximately six to twelve inches. When the sheath can slide freely between the needle and a connector at the opposite end, it is difficult to quickly locate the sheath, in order to place it over the needle. As well, if the sheath is sliding freely on the tubing, for example, during shipping, the sheath may prematurely slide to its protecting position covering the needle, so that when the tubing set is removed from its packaging the needle is not exposed for quick insertion into a patient's arm. Thus, it is desirable to retain the sheath in a predetermined, displaced position along the tubing, so that the sheath may have a spaced resting place, prior to placement of the sheath in its protecting position over the needle.
Such tubing sets commonly have a connector at an end for connection of the tubing set to a peripheral or secondary tubing set. The connector may have a threaded coupling or a luer type coupling for connection to a corresponding coupling of a secondary tubing set. Commonly, the connector includes a collar for receiving the tubing therein. The collar is generally grabbed by a user's fingers in order to attach the connector to the secondary tubing set. Generally, the collar has an outer diameter of about 4 mm, and due to its small size is difficult to grab, and to impart sufficient pressure by the user's fingers in order to torque the connector properly. For example, because the collar of the connector is difficult to grip properly, in some circumstances, the connector may not be fastened tightly enough to the secondary tubing set and can disconnect—causing blood or other fluids to spill and escape the tubing sets.
In other circumstances, the connector becomes attached to a secondary tubing set too tightly, and is later difficult to remove. For example, during usage of the tubing sets blood may flow through the tubing sets, and warm up the connector. Such heat may cause expansion of the plastic components, that may result in tightening of the coupling and make it difficult later to remove or disconnect the couplers/connectors. As the collar of the connector has such a small diameter, it may be difficult to adequately grip the coupling in order to generate sufficient torque in order to remove the connector from the secondary tubing. Thus, there is desired a means for more securely and more easily gripping and attaching a connector of a first tubing set to a second tubing set. It is also desirable to provide a ratcheting means to avoid over-torquing the connector of a tubing set.